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Monday, February 24, 2014

I initially picked it up from that youtube video as a way to shoot a shotgun better, then I verified the technique talking to some other shooters who all used it. I then cross applied the technique to the carbine, even though that isn't where it is intended to be used. For me it has worked well, especially so when wearing a plate carrier and getting a good purchase with the butt stock can be difficult.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Anytime I have a spare 30 rounds, the VTAC Half & Half is one of my favorite carbine drills...really for no other reason than it plays to my strength, pressing the trigger really fast. It is not a difficult drill for me to pass, in fact I have even doubled the distances while keeping the same time constraints and target size and still passed. It is all about keeping the gun flat so your sight picture doesn't go away and pressing the trigger as fast as you can (especially at the 5 yard line). This is a run with iron sights. It speeds up a little with optics.

The way that I approach recoil management on the carbine is different from what I have heard a lot of other people are using. I actually use the same technique that I use on the shotgun. My primary shooting hand (right for me) is pulling the gun back into the shoulder and my support hand (left) is actually applying forward muscle tension. Almost like I am trying to stretch the gun. I don't know why I started doing it that way, I just did, and it seems to work. I have had a few other guys try it and they have noted increased control of the gun as well. If you have never tried it before, give it a shot and let me know how it worked out in the comments.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

I generally don't shoot or carry smaller guns. I shot an LC9 for a little while, a Ruger SP101 for a bit, and a S&W 637 for a few months before that. Outside of those three guns, everything else has been full-size or compact to include various Glocks, a couple Sigs and a Beretta. I decided it was time to add another small gun, but I wanted this one to be really small. I also wanted it to be a .22 because when you can find it, it is still cheaper than any other pistol caliber. I decided to go with a Taurus PT-22. I don't expect much from a small .22 caliber pistol, nor a Taurus, but it will be interesting to see what this little pea shooter can do. I have done an initial function check and everything seems to be working relatively well. I have run two different types of ammunition through it, bulk Remington Golden Bullet JHP and ungodly expensive (at least for .22) RWS R50 match ammo. When I get more ammo, I will start running some of the typical drills I shoot like Dot Torture, the 300, etc. to see how its shootability measures up to the other guns I would typically be shooting.

Mike Seeklander published another good article on his blog about something I have written about before. Getting training before wasting too much time practicing. He lays out a clear path to follow in order to maximize the efficiency of the process. I highly recomment it. You can read it HERE.

If you read that blog post and think you would like to take a class from the guy, you can check his schedule and sign up HERE.

If you live in central Arkansas like I do, Mike will be teaching is Level 1 course in White Hall on March 29/30. It is money well spent.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

I recently read a blog post by Mike Seeklander on Self-Limiting Assumptions and it struck a cord with my personal training and practice. Even now, when I should know better, I find myself thinking things like "How could I be any faster?".

When I first started shooting I was in a relatively small group of guys, maybe 40 all together. Out of those 40, I was certainly one of the best and thought I was pretty good because of it. I assumed that those around me who were also "good" were as good as a shooter could get within reason. Of course there would be a few outliers who could be better, but by and large, we were good. I had unknowingly imposed a self-limiting assumption on my performance by thinking we couldn't get any better. Once I branched outside of that group being good took on new meaning. Those self-limiting assumptions went away because I had seen better, and now I am better for it.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

I haven't had as much time to keep up with the blog lately, but thought I would take a minute to write about goal setting, and what they can do for a performance driven shooter. I have had a few shooting related goals for a while now, a consistent sub 1 second draw, a consistent sub 2 second reload, a sub 2 second Bill Drill, and a sub 2.5 second draw to a steel popper at 50 yards. I haven't quite attained all of those goals, but I am getting closer. As an example, if you reference this post from May of 2012, my reloads with the same Glock 22 I am shooting now average just over 2 seconds. Compare that to this video, shot a couple weeks ago on the range at a USPSA A-zone.

That is fairly representative of my reloads, hovering in the 1.75 to 1.80 range most of the time. Now instead of a plus 2 second reload being the norm, it is the exception.

Here are videos of all the others. I am not there on all of them, but getting closer.

The improvements are slow coming, and require a lot of training investment getting there, but that is the way this game is played. As we become better shooters, the small incremental improvements take more effort and energy.